A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one’s accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which the food comes.–Wendell Berry (1934-)
Wendell Berry is a Kentucky poet, novelist, essayist, philosopher and farmer. He has always remained close to the land, continuing to farm on his family farm, and this is reflected in much of his work. His most well known book, The Unsettling of America, provides a classic critique of industrial agriculture which is foundational to today’s agrarianism and a precursor of the Slow Food movement and the current food revolution taking place in the U.S.
The American Poetry Foundation says of Berry: “Critics and scholars have acknowledged Wendell Berry as a master of many literary genres, but whether he is writing poetry, fiction, or essays, his message is essentially the same: humans must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth or perish.”
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Wendell Berry was born in Kentucky in 1934. He has always promoted a responsible kind of agriculture that is integrated into one’s everyday life. Because he promoted this vision of food and agriculture long before the Slow Food movement started, he is viewed by Slow Food as having laid the foundation for the American Slow Food movement and the move toward a more sustainable and ethical agriculture.
